Security agencies tipped on anti-terrorist financing
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) says local enforcement agencies and policymakers will need to be trained to combat the financing of terrorist acts and the proliferation of weapons.
NIS director general Dokani Ngwira said this at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe where the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) and the Attorney Generals’ Alliance (AGA) held a workshop on Combating Terrorist and Proliferation Financing.
Addressing delegates to the workshop, he said the training will help policymakers appreciate the importance of allocating resources and time to global efforts to combat the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons.
Said Ngwira: “The training will help us prepare for the emerging threat of terrorism and proliferation financing. The risk of terrorist financing is low in Malawi, but we have to prepare from the inflow of the same from other jurisdictions in the global village.”
In his presentation, the director general said the country has a relatively low risk of terrorism financing, but stressed that there are several vulnerabilities that can be exploited if policymakers and security agencies do not take measures to address them.
Ngwira cited Malawi’s predominantly cash-based economy, its propensity for smuggling and “proximity to unstable jurisdictions exploited by other militant groups such as al Shabab in East Africa as some risks that need to be mitigated, among others.
He said the workshop will complement the efforts the country has already implemented, including revising the Financial Crimes Act.
In a separate interview, AGA country representative for Malawi Gift Chikwakwa said it is important for countries like Malawi to take pre-emptive action to stop financing for terrorism.
“We have to hold these trainings to build capacity upfront and wait for the acts of terrorism or proliferation of weapons to happen,” she said.
The four-day training targeted policymakers in counterterrorism, supervisors of law enforcement agencies and law enforcers.
